Panther Attack

 Quite a few of my poems are anecdotes that have happened to me or people I know.  Last week, for the Toy Press prompt word, Swipe, I immediately thought of when animals swipe food from where they are not supposed to.  

Suddenly, I remembered an incident that occured when I was a teenager.  We looked after one of my best friends from orchestra, Marianne's cat, Teddy for a couple of Summer holidays.  

One day, I came home with some Southern fried chicken, of the variety that KFC serve.  I was really looking forward to that chicken...

Panther attack

 

I was hungrily eating chicken (KFC), 

Eyed up by panther-grey cat Teddy.

I could blatantly see that he was ready,

And longing share this treat with me.

 

Each time he leapt up to the table

As fast as I was physically able,

These attempts I would hastily disable,

Yet he seemed imperturbable.

 

Now clearly the great smell had him hyped

My prized, crispy skin he deftly swiped!

Oh, this manoeuvre really griped! 

So I wrestled, retrieved and ate (once wiped!)

Yes, I did.  Before you ask.

I was SO annoyed at Teddy, that I did indeed wrestle him for my prized piece of chicken skin which I had been saving for last. He absolutely was not going to stop me from eating it!

xx

Slippery Frippery

There's been a few weeks without an inspiration word from The Toy Press so I was happy to see a new word last week, 'Slippery' but I was not finding much use for it! Everything I tried felt contrived and I dropped all attempts. 

Finally, I came up with the first 3 stanza but when CBC heard it, he said I needed to make more of the recovery, so I edited and extended. 

What do you think? I'm not that enamoured by it but I don't hate it! 

Slippery Frippery

The playground was icy

I had no grip,

Precariously walked, 

Took a slippery dip!

 

Head over heels,

Landed in heap,

Dignity destroyed

Embarrassment deep.

 

All Year 6 watching, 

They laughed in glee, 

Tears in my eyes, 

Really riled me. 

 

The need to save face, 

Was to style it right, how? 

Crack out the moves, 

Own the stage now! 

 

Stood up and shimmied 

Hopped and spun, 

Slid to the side,

Waved to everyone! 

 

I pranced and twisted, 

Raised arms and paused 

Smiled like an actor,

Bowed for applause. 

 

At the Fruit cocktail party

 The poem I wrote during my 2nd Easter holiday week was based on using the word: "Peach.".

Actually, I'd written a poem using the word "peachy" a couple of weeks ago but I didn't have it with me. Thus, my brain on days 1 of the Pennine way was filled with trying to come up with a poem using the word. I had this idea in my mind of fruits being like 'people' or beings, being somewhat anthropomorphised,  and the idea of a Fruit Cocktail and then a Cocktail party came together.  In my mind, I started pairing/pearing (ha!) fruits with actions I might say to them or do with them.  At lunchtime, I quickly put some fruits into a memo on my phone plus potential paired rhyming words or phrases.  Later on, when walking, I asked CBC if he could think of some fruits one point, he came up with Guava, Kumquat, Fig and Greengage as unique ones I hadn't thought of. I quickly abandoned any of the -berry suffixed ones as they ended up with too many syllables to maintain a nice flow. As I walked, and I pondered on rhymes for the ones CBC had suggested, I could not, for the life of me, remember what the 4th one was.  It was a good 2 hours before both he and I remembered Greengage.

When we reached our accommodation for the night, The Forest View Walkers Inn, I typed into my Memo to come up with the poem itself.  I realised that I wanted a very rhythmic poem and the refrain line of 'At the Fruit cocktail party' rather than just being the title, came to end each stanza.

My family thought this one wasn't my finest, but I quite like the weird nature on it!

Here it is:

At the Fruit Cocktail Party:

First, say "Hiya!" to Papaya, 

Pass the time with a Lime, 

Hear a speech from a Peach

At the Fruit Cocktail Party! 

Act quite mighty with a Lychee, 

Say,   "Mañana? " to Banana, 

Eat a lot with Apricot, 

At the Fruit Cocktail Party! 

Do a Tango with a Mango, 

Dance a Jig with a Fig, 

A Foxtrot with Kumquat, 

At the Fruit Cocktail Party! 

Laugh "Tee hee!" with Kiwi

And make merry with a Cherry 

Then engage with Greengage

At the Fruit Cocktail party! 

Have a grapple with an apple, 

Then escape from a grape, 

Make a scene with Nectarine, 

At the Fruit Cocktail Party!

Now, I just need to create some little cartoons showing these fruit encounters occurring!

A Grimm Shopping List- Happy World Book Day!

 I wrote a poem for the kids at school for World Book Day. Our theme is Fairytales and Traditional Tales (also with a twist).

Here's my spin on Fairytales. Well, not a spin- an alternative presentation!

Can you recognise the origins of the items on my shopping list?

And, what am I going to dress up as???

A Grimm Shopping List

· A delectable Gingerbread House

· A  dapper cat dressed in boots.

· A old cow sold for a bag of beans.

· An emperor with invisible suits.

· A man enchanted as a beast.

· A  girl with hair long as a tower.

· A man with a name that’s hard to guess.

· A slipper dropped at the midnight hour.

· Dwarves with adjectival names.

· An old spinning wheel so sharp.

· Breadcrumbs dropped to find the way home.

· A magical singing harp.

· 3 swine with different built-houses.

· A scarlet –hooded cloak.

· A lamp that grants your greatest wish.

· A chair that a gold-locked girl broke.

· Twenty mattresses and a pea.

· A runaway made of gingerbread dough.

· Three billy-goats of diverse size.

· A wolf with a powerful blow.

· A hero or heroine good.

· A baddie with a plan that fails.

· Enchantments and aid from someone good.

· Behold a myriad fairy-tales.

 

Night Terrors

 This week's prompt word for my poem was 'Kid'.  It was another one which took a few days of thinking. It was written in the car on the way to walking on the Roman Wall on the Sycamore Gap stretch of the journey (RIP tree) and on the way back to get changed to visit the Glasshouse for a concert with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

Night Terrors 

"I kid you not, it's terrifying!

I hear a monstrous dragon flying. 

Malevolent with fangs so long.

Please stay with me, you are so strong!" 

"I see no dragon, no need to hide. 

Your imagination's in overdrive!" 

"I do not jest, I'm over-awed, 

I hear a mighty wolf, sharp-clawed, 

He's watching me with evil eyes, 

Please stay with me, you are so wise!" 

"I see no wolf, no provocation, 

You've got a vivid imagination!" 

"I do not joke, I start to quake, 

I hear a fearsome, massive snake, 

He wants to squeeze me in his 'arms' 

Please stay with me, keep me from harm!" 

"I see no snake, no need to fear, 

Your brain plays tricks, there's nothing here." 

"I do not fabricate, beware! 

I hear a snuffling, growling bear, 

Massive, mighty, he wants to bite!, 

Please stay with me and hold me tight!" 

"I see no bear, no cause to fret, 

This room is bare of bears, my pet." 

"I tell no lie, my nerves are soaring, 

I hear a dangerous lion roaring, 

Hungry, surely he wants to feed. 

Please stay with me or he'll succeed!" 

"I see no lion, real or other, 

It seems the sounds are all your brother!"

I had various ideas for this one, one, something based on the Billy Goat's Gruff and the other, using the phrase, "I kid you not!" which CBC kept telling me for ages was not a real phrase until he kept hearing other people ALSO say it.

I went with the second idea and it was going to be a poem about a child being scared with a vivid imagination (ME!) and imagining all sorts of things under the bed or outside the window whilst trying to sleep. Originally, it was going to be a 'Boy who cried wolf' situation where the child tells one lie too many and then gets eaten  by something but then the poem didn't feel like it wanted to do that so all of a sudden, it felt like that child was being gaslighted by an older sibling to who was making convincing sound effect to genuinely terrify the younger, more impressionable one.

I feel like it ends a bit abruptly, but to fit with the repetition and the length of the other stanzas, it had to be so.  Do you think the parent sounds too unsympathetic in their response?  I think sometimes there is a fine balance between building resilience and genuinely supporting a terrified vivid imagination. What's your take on it?

Rudolph's Last Minute Wobble

 Here's my final, probably, poem for the Toy word of the Week challenge. I won't inflict any more dubious poetry on you for a while. 

This challenge needed to include the word, 'Crackers'. I chose to use it in its more colloquial meaning but went with a Christmas theme. 

Xx

2 poems

 I had another go at writing a poem based on the word of the week prompt from The Toy poetry magazine.

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It's not particularly great but I wanted to have a go at getting the rhythm of a galloping horse in the poem.  The word you needed to include was 'Prance'.

On the subject, and another horsy word- here is the poem I wrote for the first week of December's prompt which was 'Canter'

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A Poem that sleighs!

I started following a children's poetry magazine on Instagram called The Toy and they have been sharing a weekly prompt Word of the Week which you had to include in a poem.

Last week, I had a go at the prompt and this week I thought I'd have a go too.

 The Word of the was was Jingle!

Snail-smoocher

 On Friday, I ended up on afternoon playground duty with Year 1 and 2.  One cheerful little boy came up to me and informed me he had done something most unusual.

In honour of this bizarre and hilarious moment, I wrote a triolet poem

Snail-smoocher

Noel told me he’d kissed a snail

He told me ooh so proudly!

Did he peck its head or smooch its tail?

Noel told me he’d kissed a snail.

I wondered if it left a trail?

Did it protest at the affection loudly?

Noel told me he’d kissed a snail

He told me ooh so proudly!

K.Allin-Garner 

October 2024

From the Archives- Autumn Treasures

 I was looking at my blog and found this post from October 2015. 

It included a poem about Autumn and reminds me of my need to make an effort to like Autumn. I don't. But I try!

So, come on then Autumn, show me your finery!
Take me on a journey of discovery, that we may know each other as dear old friends.
Deck yourself in your most dandiest of threads
And serenade and woo me with your beauty.
Dazzle me, hold aloft your greatest finery.
Pave my paths with gold and my walls with the richest of rubies.
Allow me to tread gently upon your veined-dreams.
Offer me the finest delicacies, enjoyed by the richest of your patrons.
And lead me to places with untold, unimaginable intricacy.
Exhibit shapes in myriad forms and the whole spectrum of shades.
Share your tree-dappled light as a lamp to my feet.
May lace-like ferns adorn my routes.
Like palms in far-off lands.
Show me that life still brims within you.
And that you are echoes of friends past, still near, still loved.
Teach me the ways of older beauty.
That you too, may be long-cherished in my heart.

CBC and I went for a forest walk today after a rather long and protracted detour in which we aborted an attempt to visit a nature reserve in the place of my ancestors, Tollesbury.  Instead, we returned to Danbury, a place I posted about walking in, in January.  I tried to look closely at the colours of the season and appreciate that there still is incredible variety, delicate beauty and not all shades of futile decay. Indeed, comparing it to my January walk, I see a great contrast and realise, that whilst Summer is my true love, that there is still much to rejoice in!

It is a joy to be on holiday for another week in which many joyous plans, dear friends and family to see and adventures will ensue!

I hope all is well with you!

xxx

Linking with Claire Justine at Creative Mondays 

AND, for the first time,

Linking with Photo Friday with Jen from Pierced Wanderings

Something different

 I have been interested in poetry from when I was a child. One of my favourite books was Brian Pattern's Gargling with Jelly.  I grew to like it more through Enid Blyton's mystery books as there was a character called Ernie Good (nephew of PC Good) who tried to write poetry. His poems were always improved by the clever "Fatty" (Frederick Algernon Trotteville).  When I was around 13, I started writing my own poems in a pretty floral notebook I was given.  Life became busy after that into my teens and I didn't really write any. Then I commenced Teacher Training and began writing a few poems, inspired by the poems I was teaching- I even shared a few in the early days of this blog (not labelled so hard to find and labelled later. and here (not the best poems but soothing for me to write).

I bought some poetry books in my 20's.  A friend of my Grandad's, from his violin making classes called Roger Downer had published 2 poetry books and he gave me some copies.  I started learning some poems by heart when I got to know my Father in Law, the wonderful WOMOTM.

We had a push on poetry in school and I started setting some poems to music for the children in Singing Assembly to help with the push on poetry from a musical angle. I wrote a few poems as well.

Again, life became busy but I started to see poems around me.  Do any of you remember the hilarious blogger, Lakota- Faith Hope and Charity Shopping?  Well, we are still Insta buddies and she has been publishing her brilliant Children's poetry on her insta and in some publications.  A musical friend of mine, Kate Wakeling is a published poet of 2 children's books (and adult ones) and we got in touch through Insta.  I bought her two books for school- Cloud Soup and Moon Juice- both of which I really enjoyed.

On Sunday, I saw on her Insta, an advert for this event:

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Poetry had come up again in a recent Reading Inset and so I really wanted to sign up for it- Poetry, as I said, has always been something I enjoy.

I mentioned it to Kate to ask about timings and she said it would be lovely to see me so I enrolled onto it. It ran from 4pm-5.30pm via Zoom. I joined in at school as I wouldn't be able to get home in time.

Ah, it was lovely to have poetry read to us, to talk about techniques and what works well. How the mundane can be made magical, how deep feelings can be explored, how feelings can be personified, how the ordinary can be made absurd and how ambiguity can be used well. Also how free verse can be really a great way into poetry and not getting too bogged down in a particular style.

We had 2 creative tasks based on 2 of Kate's poems, I shared my first one with the group which was based on Kate's Paeon: 11 uses for a Pea.  My one was 9 uses for a Whiteboard pen lid.  It was really enjoyable to sit and write and think  in a different way and to hear how other people's creativity sparkled in the tasks- I really enjoyed hearing the voices and the words of this group of people I didn't know.

I came out of there feeling positive and inspired and looking forward to trying to get myself writing again.

It wasn't intended as such but felt like a nice early birthday present to myself.  I had a million other things I should be doing but somehow this felt important!

If you are interested in Kate's books, children's poetry, writing events or general poetry,  head over to the Emma Press to find out more!

https://theemmapress.com/events/ 

xx

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